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Earning potential of YouTube

Video advertising itself, despite the increasing popularity of video, is currently not much more than 10% of online ad spend, according the the IAB’s figures below.

YouTube represents around 40% of online video consumption. YouTube is already the most popular destination for music in the world, both in terms of streams per month and monthly users. A new ad-free subscription service is expected in the coming months to capitalise on this popularity.

Online advertising growth

The IAB internet advertising revenue report for 2014, in partnership with PWC, looks at the first six months’ results.

Revenue total was $11.7bn in Q2 2014. Total 2014 second-quarter revenues were $1.42bn (13.8%) higher than in the second quarter of 2013 and $264m (2.3%) higher than in the first quarter of 2014.

Smartphone satisfaction

xAd and Telmetrics have collaborated with Nielsen for a mobile shopping study in the UK. The Mobile Path to Purchase research tracks consumers from initial purchase intent to conversion, while exploring ad effectiveness among mobile consumers.

2,000 UK Tablet and Smartphone users were surveyed along with an accompanying US study. Each respondent reported that they had used their device to make a purchase decision in at least one of three key industries in the past 30 days.

Key findings:

Mobile is becoming a key part of consumers’ purchase process.

Satisfaction with information on smartphones is on the rise and up to 46% of shoppers now say mobile is the most important media for their purchase.

The same study looked at gender and age. It included online survey data and observed behaviours from Nielsen’s Smartphone Analytics Panel divided by sex and age group: Boomers (55+), Gen X (35-54), and Millennials (18-34).

The study shows that Gen Xers actually spend more time on their mobile devices than the younger Millennials.

Key findings based on gender and generation include:

Men spend more time on mobile overall, but women spend longer on each visit over a minute or more depending on category.

Men are more likely to use their phone on the go, while women are more likely to access information at home.

Gen X consumers account for the most time spent on mobile overall and use their devices longer each session.

Millennials are the ultimate multitaskers, using their devices for frequent, shorter sessions and for more activities.

Boomers are more likely to have a clear idea of what they’re looking for. Younger consumers are more likely to browse on their mobile devices.

One in four Millennials cited price as their top purchase driver.

Click to view the full infographic.

The ideal length of everything online

How long should a LinkedIn headline be? A blog post? A tweet or a YouTube video? SumAll has collated data on what length certain media should be to increase its chances of success.

Click through the snippet below to see the full infographic.

Android mobile-ad market share

Opera Mediaworks’ State of Mobile Advertising report has revealed trends for Q3 2014.

Earlier this year, Android overtook iOS in impression volume. The gap widened further in the third quarter of 2014, with Android devices capturing 58% of impressions versus iOS at 30%.

In monetization terms, Google’s mobile OS gained three percentage points, compared to Q2, reaching nearly 42% of revenue in Q3. Apple still commands higher revenue at 51%, but it is lower than Q2, when it was at 53%.

Mobile video:

1 in 10 mobile ads delivered in the United States are video.

In addition, video eCPMs (effective cost per thousand impressions) were eight times higher than banner ads.

In 2014, mobile video impressions grew 350% and mobile video continues to be the fastest growing category in mobile advertising.

Shorter-form video formats are becoming more popular, with more than half of video ads served in the range of less than 20 seconds.

Social tops mobile:

Social networking is still the most popular category in mobile advertising, accounting for about one in five ad impressions.

Retargeting, as successful as it is, can discourage some customers

Over half (55%) of consumers are put off buying products or services if they see the same ad online multiple times, according to a study by InSkin Media and RAPP Media that surveyed over 1,600 people aged 20 to 60.

Only 10% of consumers are more likely to buy something after seeing the same ad served repeatedly because of their previous web surfing behaviour (known as retargeting).

People are nearly four times more likely to be encouraged than discouraged to buy something if they see a relevant ad during their research on it. However, as an ad is seen up to five times, it becomes ‘annoying’ and ‘intrusive’. Once it hits 10 times, ‘angry’ becomes the dominant reaction (see chart below).

In contrast to the positivity for a relevant ad being seen during research, one seen after research is over is 15% more likely to discourage than encourage a purchase.

If seen after the product is purchased, its nearly four times more likely to discourage future purchases.

Ads seen multiple times are 40% more likely to be received positively if they’re served on a website related to the ad content (e.g. a hotel ad appearing on a holiday website).

Ads served on unrelated sites are over 11 times more likely to discourage than encourage a purchase.

The quality of a site also has a big impact on how advertising is perceived; people are 37% more likely to click on an ad if it’s on a site they trust.

Almost one in four (23%) people are unaware that advertisers collect personal information to serve relevant ads.

Social media in 2014

The Hootsuite Social Business Benchmark study released this week showed that the majority of organisations surveyed believe social media is critical to staying competitive and engaging audiences, yet they face challenges in deriving value from the data they mine from social and aligning departments.

More than 750 interviews were collected among current or prospective clients of Hootsuite.

Key Findings:

The majority of respondents (88%) agree that social media is important to maintain a competitive edge.

Less than half (40%) of these organisations said they were using data gained from social media to improve their bottom line.

60% stated they were challenged to find actionable use for data collected.

Nearly three in four respondents (72%) agree the number of departments using social media is growing.

A majority (64%) of respondents whose social media strategy is at least somewhat aligned stated that aligning strategy across departments was difficult

62% of respondents said that creating a social media strategy was difficult in the first place.

A majority of respondents (84%) view enhancing relationships with existing customers as an area social media can contribute value to, as well as the ability to learn about the company’s reputation (81%), and to monitor external communication (79%).

73% of respondents value social media’s capability to resolve customer complaints and questions.

Chipotle and McDonald’s: contrasting fortunes

Not really an online marketing stat, this one, but proof of declining brand fortunes for McDonald’s.

Chipotle’s (formerly owned by McDonald’s) same-store sales were up by 19.8% this past quarter versus 2013, while comparable sales at McDonald’s US outlets dipped by 3.3%, as reported by Quartz.

Mums and supermarkets

A survey from Starcom MediaVest and Mumsnet into mums’ supermarket shopping habits reveals erosion of loyalty. 1,000 Mumsnet users were surveyed – here are the results:

10% of mums claim to have swapped from the ‘Big Four’ in last six months in favour of discount supermarkets.

Half of mums top up shopping at least twice a week .

Mums now shop at an average of three supermarkets a week for their main shop.

30% of mums surveyed now regularly do a main shop at Aldi.

33% of mums claim to have switched supermarkets in the last six months, stating lower prices, better products and a better in-store experience being the top reasons for switching.

24% of respondents who earn between £50-69,000 and 21% who earn £70-99,000 shop at Aldi. 22% of respondents also within the £70-99,000 salary bracket shop at Lidl.

A third of M&S and Waitrose shoppers topped up at least three times a week, in comparison to just under a quarter of Aldi shoppers doing the same.

Recommended

With automotive purchase journeys increasingly taking place online, manufacturers and dealerships have a reason to place greater focus on digital channels to pick up customers in the early phases of their research.

An AutoTrader.com study from last year found that new and used buyers spend 75% of their car research time online, while Google stats suggest that these customers take an average of 2.7 months to decide on a purchase.

This presents a challenge for automotive marketers to grab the attention of these researchers and eventually move them offline for a test drive or a visit to a local dealership.

There’s also the challenge of measuring online marketing efforts when customers use so many channels, as tracking leads from website to dealership isn’t always simple.

In this article, I’ll look at the purchase journey, some examples of automotive brands online, and that tricky transition from web to dealership.

Alcohol advertising in the UK is subject to some of the most stringent rules in the world.

They place a particular emphasis on protecting young people. Alcohol ads must not be directed at people under 18 or contain anything that is likely to appeal to them by reflecting youth culture or by linking alcohol with irresponsible behaviour, social success or sexual attractiveness.

Which brings us to social media. How does an alcoholic beverage brand successfully run a social media channel, full of appealing content and personal engagement while sticking to the right side of the regulations?